Graphic by Charlotte Alden.

Sleep, eat, test, repeat.

Between AP, the SAT, the ACT and a variety of SAT Subject tests, my junior year has been packed with an alphabet soup of standardized tests. While fitting all these tests has made my life difficult, including all these scores has become an important component of college applications.

The College Board further complicates the process by limiting the number of testing days. The SAT is offered seven times a year with Subject Tests only offered six of those days, giving students is limited time to schedule all the requisite tests.

Students who want to take Subject Tests may find themselves having to choose between taking or retaking the SAT or sitting for Subject Tests. Both options could improve applications and student confidence, but the College Board’s paltry scheduling forces students to make unnecessary tradeoffs.

Twenty-three colleges require students to submit two Subject Tests in their college application and an additional 25 colleges strongly recommend that these tests be included—Georgetown University strongly recommends sending three Subject Tests, according to a 2014 article by Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz, founder of AdMISSION Possible.

Even the schools that don’t formally require Subject Tests during the admissions process may later require Subject Tests for certain majors or programs, Shaevitz found. The College Board reports that 180 schools use Subject Tests for course placement. In short: finding the time to take these Subject Tests is important to enhance applications and meet school requirements. But unfortunately for students, testing is a race against time.

If the College Board were to offer SAT Subject Tests on days separate from the SAT, students would have more time to take tests and excel; there would be ample time to sign up to retake an exam, improve scores and study more.